Hungary: too many female academics, says report

A report on Hungary's higher education system compiled by the State Audit Office complains that female students now outnumber male students. It says that too much "pink education" not only puts men at a disadvantage but also leads to demographic problems: educated women have more difficulties finding a husband and bear fewer children. Hungarian-language media shake their heads in dismay.

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Új Szó (SK) /

Views dating back to the 1950s

Orbán's government and institutions have a completely outdated image of women, Új Szó criticises:

“A well-known German pudding manufacturer came up with the slogan in the 1950s: 'A woman has two questions in life: What should I wear and what should I cook?' ... As the State Audit Office's study shows, even today there are apparently politicians who maintain this stance. ... It is a thorn in the side of those in power that there are more and more educated women in Hungary. ... Why do you think that is? Because in their view educated women don't bear enough children, meaning that the Hungarian nation is going to the dogs, and worse, dying out.”

Élet és Irodalom (HU) /

Orbán wants homemakers not academics

University-educated women have a hard time in Hungary, regrets Élet és Irodalom:

“The authors of the study believe that the birth rate will drop if more women have university degrees. But international statistics refute this claim. It has nothing to do with reality and is simply nonsense. ... The Orbán government has always made great efforts to cement its arch-conservative image of the family, in which women are demoted to willing household helpers. Many of its policies aim to consolidate the classic marriage between man and woman. Its socio-political ideas have no place for educated, independent women who want to go their own way.”